The Illusion of Love Painting

I am a full time artist, currently living and working in Chevy Chase, MD. I was born in Mongolia to Ukrainian parents and I grew up in Belarus. I lived in Paris where I studied French language and French Art History and I also lived in Moscow before I moved to Chevy Chase in 2008. Art has been my passion since early childhood. I’ve always enjoyed drawing and sketching. I started taking oil painting classes about 14 years ago when I moved to the US. I had a great privilege to study with a teacher Doris Haskel. Doris inspired and encouraged me, I’m forever grateful to her and I think I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. Doris was heavily influenced by Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning and other New York school painters as well as by Braque, Matisse and Cezanne. My favorite painters are Picasso and Matisse. I also studied with Erin Johnson at Artworks Fine Art Studio in Bethesda MD; Walt Bartman, Maud Taber-Thomas, Jordan Bruns and Gavin Glakas at the Yellow Barn Studio in Glen Echo, MD – I learnt a lot from each instructor and I appreciate their talent, patience, guidance and their openness in sharing their knowledge and technique. I mostly create abstract pieces and work on a large scale canvas in oil and acrylic. I also enjoy creating mixed media collages on paper board. I do portrait studies in charcoal as well as figure paintings on canvas. A lot of things inspire me really, mostly nature and people. The foundation of my art works is the intersection between the imagination, visual impression, observation and memory. I seek to capture the essence of experience, the mood, the emotions, and the atmosphere of the places and events that inspire me. To me, abstract art doesn't represent what we see but rather it represents what we feel and what we think. I'm one of those people who don't rationalize art – I prefer to feel it. So when people tell me they don't understand abstract art, I always tell them they don't need to understand it. Because there's a lot of spontaneous energy when I create my pieces, it gives a certain freedom to my spirit to create whatever I feel at that particular moment. That's why I think all art is abstract. You just need to be open to receive the message. One of my favorite quotes is by Vincent van Gogh: “I dream my painting and I paint my dream”.